What active (i.e. alive and not retired) actor working in film would you like to see acknowledged with another competitive Oscar win.

My choice is Kathy Bates. The path of least resistance is Supp Actress where age is a non-concern for a win. Of course I’d prefer she match her Best Actress statuette with an identical twin on the inscription but no matter what circumstances could lead her to a second Best Actress nomination they won’t break for her for the win. I have no faith in the Academy in that department. That’s why the plausible reality is Supp Actress with a possible first-time pickup win at BAFTA.

I’ve seen Mission Impossible and Howards End. The former isn’t a proper introduction but it was my first ever Redgrave performance and the latter she was a perfect match for Thompson. Prick Up Your Ears, which I’ve also seen, belongs to the men, in my humble opinion.

I will seek out the earlier stuff and the television titles are accessible online in some form or another.

I hope Cate Blanchett wins an Oscar for a performance that reflects her talent (not a fan of her Hepburn).

Like Dench’s Shakespeare in Love Oscar, Blanchett’s Aviator victory was a quickie makeup win. Of course both women this year are vying to correct being one-time winners as well as never having won in Best Actress.

If I were to pick the best line reading in a movie ever, I’d go with Redgrave’s final words in Prick Up Your Ears, at the crematorium, when her fussbudget companion is concerned that the ashes of the two men have been uneven divided – “It’s a ritual, dear, not a recipe.”

They were fine, but I don’t even really remember the men in Prick that well.

Her TV stuff is amazing – her Jewish death camp musician in Playing for Time, the transgender tennis play in Second Serve, Blanche in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, the lesbian survivor in If These Walls Could Talk 2, Orpheus Ascending, the miniseries Peter the Great, Clemmie Churchill in The Gathering Storm, the list goes on and on

i just saw she’s in The Butler. My guess is she’ll give the best performance in the film.

If I were to pick the best line reading in a movie ever, I’d go with Redgrave’s final words in Prick Up Your Ears, at the crematorium, when her fussbudget companion is concerned that the ashes of the two men have been uneven divided – “It’s a ritual, dear, not a recipe.”

They were fine, but I don’t even really remember the men in Prick that well.

Her TV stuff is amazing – her Jewish death camp musician in Playing for Time, the transgender tennis play in Second Serve, Blanche in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, the lesbian survivor in If These Walls Could Talk 2, Orpheus Ascending, the miniseries Peter the Great, Clemmie Churchill in The Gathering Storm, the list goes on and on

i just saw she’s in The Butler. My guess is she’ll give the best performance in the film.

Alfred Molina and Gary Oldman give equally faultless performances and you believe wholeheartedly they’re not acting these characters but literally are them in some cinema-verite docudrama.

If Dench and Blanchett end up head to head (which they should have for NoaS) – with great reviews for both – it’d be quite tricky to predict a winner (if it appears to come down to either). Dench has Harvey and the Lead issue but Blanchett can also still benefit from that ’98 Oscar tragedy now that she’s back in Lead.

If I were to pick the best line reading in a movie ever, I’d go with Redgrave’s final words in Prick Up Your Ears, at the crematorium, when her fussbudget companion is concerned that the ashes of the two men have been uneven divided – “It’s a ritual, dear, not a recipe.”

They were fine, but I don’t even really remember the men in Prick that well.

Her TV stuff is amazing – her Jewish death camp musician in Playing for Time, the transgender tennis play in Second Serve, Blanche in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, the lesbian survivor in If These Walls Could Talk 2, Orpheus Ascending, the miniseries Peter the Great, Clemmie Churchill in The Gathering Storm, the list goes on and on

i just saw she’s in The Butler. My guess is she’ll give the best performance in the film.

If Dench and Blanchett end up head to head (which they should have for NoaS) – with great reviews for both – it’d be quite tricky to predict a winner (if it appears to come down to either). Dench has Harvey and the Lead issue but Blanchett can also still benefit from that ’98 Oscar tragedy now that she’s back in Lead.

I see Best Actress this year being the strongest in recent memory and who is overdue for a Best Actress win could come down to when will she ever be this good again? (Blanchett)–or this could be her last chance (Dench). These are exciting times people.